Sunday, June 14, 9:56 p.m.: This article has been updated multiple times to include statements from former Killer E.S.P. employees.
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Several Employees of the coffee shop Killer E.S.P. in Old Town quit and launched a Go Fund Me page, alleging the owner of the shop did not encourage them to wear masks while working (against state regulations due to coronavirus) and espoused racist views.
Owner James Robert Shelton, who goes by Rob and was working at a very busy Killer E.S.P. in Old Town Sunday morning, said he was "shocked" at what had happened, and he lost hours of sleep over posts that appeared on the company's Twitter account.
Shelton said he believes that former employees or their associates broke into his social media accounts to like, retweet and post things that people would find offensive. He said the accounts had the same social media passwords for years and dozens of current and former staff members had those passwords. (The passwords have since been changed.)
As a community member, a business owner and a parent, Shelton said, having such racist and sexist views would be suicide for his business. Shelton said he is a "questioner" and a natural skeptic, but he is neither red nor blue politically. A longtime Alexandrian, he grew up with relatives who watched both CNN and Fox.
Shelton posted this on Instagram early Tuesday morning (June 16):
The GoFundMe page by three former employees raised more than $3,300 from 86 donors as of Sunday morning, far surpassing its goal of $2,000. By Sunday afternoon, 99 people had donated more than $3,700.
Shelton has deactivated the official Killer E.S.P. Twitter account. Those running the company’s Alexandria Killer E.S.P. Instagram page have not responded to requests for comments there.
Shelton said he did not address the allegations publicly immediately because he has been busy training new employees and running the Alexandria coffee shop.
Screenshots posted by other Twitter users show the person posting to the account wrote that “liberalism is an incurable disease of stupidity and a closed mind.” The Twitter account also appears to have supported racist statements (through ‘likes’ on Twitter), and the Twitter account supported tweets saying that COVID-19 is a hoax.
An employee who requested anonymity said the Twitter posts reflect Shelton's statements made in the workplace.
The following screenshots were posted in Yelp, where the coffee shop otherwise had stellar reviews for food, coffee and service.
One Yelp reviewer, Jen S., said, “However, after Northern VA moved into Phase 1, and we went by to get our latte fix, we overheard the owner (or at least a manager), tell the patrons entering behind us that they didn't need to 'bother' putting their masks on as they entered the business.” Masks are mandated inside public spaces by a statewide order.
Crow said that she heard Shelton tell regular customers they didn't need to wear a mask when they came in.
The other now-former employee who came forward wrote, "He also encouraged people to sit inside when it was not allowed, and the only reason the place wasn’t packed with people sitting inside is because the employees were telling people that it was take-out only."
Earlier this spring, when Virginia officials did start requiring masks for employees in food service, Killer E.S.P.'s employees supplied their own. "I think with him being in charge, I think it was disrespectful of him not to implement it into our lives because we’re his employees and he didn’t look out for us," Crow told Alexandria Living Magazine Sunday afternoon.
Sunday morning, all staff and customers inside Killer E.S.P., including Shelton, were wearing masks.
In a Facebook group called DMV Coffee and in emails to Alexandria Living Magazine, women also reported inappropriate comments from Shelton and others who worked in the shop. (The magazine reached out to Shelton for a comment on this Sunday evening.)
Kristyn Crow, one of the GoFundMe organizers and a former employee, told Alexandria Living Magazine Sunday afternoon that she never experienced harassment first hand, but she noticed body language from some female customers that seemed to indicate discomfort around Shelton. Crow confirmed to Alexandria Living Magazine that when someone opened up to her about harassment at Killer E.S.P., it became another reason for her to quit.
A former employee separately reached out to Alexandria Living Magazine Sunday evening, writing in an email, "I’ve also had customers confide in me that they didn’t feel comfortable around Rob and would not come in if they saw he was there, or they would leave immediately once he arrived because he would either try to talk about conspiracies with them or would always have a hand on them (arm, shoulder, or back)."
